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Sunday, November 28, 2010

LECHE FLAN (Filipino Crème Caramel)

Leche Flan is the Filipino equivalent to Crème Caramel but because of the higher content of egg yolks, it’s more richer and heavier. Most Filipinos have a sweet tooth and Leche Flan is one of the favourites when it comes to dessert. It is serve during special occasions (eg. fiestas, birthdays and family gatherings) and eaten in small portions….

Llaneras (oblong aluminium tins) are used to cook Leche Flan but you can use ramekins or any aluminium cake tins as long as you can cover the top with aluminium foil securely.

This recipe I’m providing is a fresh milk version instead of evaporated milk and the final result is just as good. This is a very easy dessert to make and only few ingredients to gather in your pantry. So, I hope you enjoy this Leche Flan with fresh milk as much as the TRIBE does.

LECHE FLAN (Filipino Crème Caramel) *fresh milk version

INGREDIENTS:

Toffee - 1/8 cup white sugar on each llaneras

Custard :

12 egg yolks (chicken)

1 can condensed milk (395g)

600ml fresh milk or you can use the UHT milk

2 tspn vanilla extract

3-4 small llaneras

aluminium foil

rubber bands

*used U.S Measuring Cups & Spoons

COOKING PROCEDURE:

*TOFFEE

~ In medium-low heat, slowly melt the sugar in each llanera.Using a pair of tongs gently tip each llaneras side to side to evenly distribute the heat, this action will make the melting of the sugar much faster into liquid form. Never leave the llaneras unattended on the stovetop as sugar has the tendency to burn quickly.

~ Once the sugar turns into a light pale gold colour smooth flowing liquid, remove from the stovetop and set aside to cool down completely. Don’t be alarm if you hear cracking noises from your harden toffee, it’s normal.

*LECHE FLAN CUSTARD

Top Left & Right: Combine all the Leche Flan Custard ingredients and whisk till well combined. Don’t whisk too hard to prevent air bubbles in the mixture. Strain the Custard mixture in a fine metal sieve to get rid of solid egg yolk bits.

Bottom Left & Right: Pour the Custard mixture over the cooled harden toffee leaving an 1cm clearance on top.

- Cut your aluminium foil into rectangles that will completely cover the llaneras sides. Place a rectangle foil over the top of a llanera and gently mold it to the shape of the llanera, secure with a thick rubber band. Do this to the rest of llaneras you have filled out.

Top Left & Right: Bring to boil the water in your steamer base and lower the heat into medium (simmering stage). Place all your covered llaneras on your steamer pan gently to avoid disturbing the contents inside. Place your steamer pan over your steamer base and cover with lid. Steam for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes. Remove the steamer pan from the stove and set it aside to cool down.

Bottom Left & Right: Remove foil cover and then using a paring knife, guide it around the edges of the Leche Flan to separate it from the llanera’s walls. Place a plate over the top of the llanera and tightly gripping them both, flip it upside down (do the flipping quickly). Slowly lift the llanera….if the Leche Flan is still stuck…give it a bit of a jiggle and it will easily slide out.

- You can store your cooled Leche Flan Llaneras inside your fridge. Unmould the Leche Flans that you require just before serving. Leche Flan is served chilled.

Avoiding air bubbles during whisking contributes to a much better looking Leche Flan and this goes also with the simmering water instead of full blast boiling water while steaming Leche Flan, I find there are less air pockets.

You can also cook Leche Flan in a Bain Marie (water bath *hot water) inside your oven for the same length as steaming at 180C. Use a rack on you water bath, so that the Leche Flan aluminium moulds are not directly in contact with the bottom of the water tray. Direct contact of the Leche Flan aluminium moulds with the bottom of the tray, heats up the syrup too quickly (like melting the sugar for the caramel/toffee), because there’s no water between them to cushion the heat.

@Anonymous~ It is the same recipe, as I made the 2nd Leche Flan Cake the same time I made this to save time...the only difference was I let the Leche Flan Mixture for the Leche Flan Cake sit inside the fridge while I prep the Cake Batter. When you cut this Leche Flan recipe...it has the same texture as the one in the Cake version. Remember I've steamed the Leche Flan and the Cake version I cooked in the oven with a water bath so that may have affected the edges.

Have you tried using evaporated milk with this recipe? If so, what's the difference? Or can I use evaporated milk? By the way what is UHT milk? Sorry if I have a lot of questions, I need to get this right for Christmas. Thank you.

@Anonymous~ You can also use evap milk for this recipe, it will be more richer compare to the fresh milk as it is more concentrated. UHT milk is explained here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ultra-high-temperature_processing. I recommended UHT milk just in case you live where fresh milk is not available, it is in liquid form and packaged in those big juice type paper boxes=) My suggestion is why don't you try 1/2 of the recipe and see how it goes before xmas. Personally I tend to do that with a new recipe to avoid excessive wastage just in case I did something wrong.

I have a suggestion: If you want to cook Leche Flan in a hot water bath then try and use a ramekin(container that is non-metal). Be sure to put a towel on the tray first before adding water so that you have something to cushion the flan container from the heat of the boiling water while it is being baked. Hope that helps.

To save time one day, and because I'm always terrified of burning sugar, I used maple syrup instead. It made the leche flan taste so good. Now, I don't think I'll ever go back to making the caramel from scratch.

@Anonymous~ Thanks for the wonderful tip=) Will keep this tip noted in my notebook to try out maple syrup next time I cook leche flan...the maple syrup have the right consistency for the raw custard/leche flan mixture to float=)

@Dolores ~ I've rechecked my list of ingredients in the recipe itself...no evaporated milk there to be seen only condensed milk. Condensed milk is totally different from Evaporated milk, I have never seen a hybrid of condensed and evap together before. In the picture that is a can of condensed milk...didn't bother to put "sweetened" as everybody knows it is thick and super sweet. Evaporated milk is not really that sweet but more concentrated then fresh milk.

Might be the aluminium pans I've used...or the water should be in very gentle simmer or there was still air bubbles when I sieved the leche flan mixture...so many factors. I could have trimmed the sides of the leche flan to make it pretty but I want my pictures to represent my recipes as it is....